Which of the following was/were associated in the excavation of Ojiyana ? A. R.C. Agrawal B. B.R. Meena C. Alok Tripathi Codes :
- (1)Only A
- (2)Only C
- (3)A and B
- (4)B and C
Answer
Why
Correct — option (4), B and C.
The Archaeological Survey of India's Jaipur Circle excavated Ojiyana under the direction of B.R. Meena and Alok Tripathi, assisted by B.R. Singh, S.C. Gupta and Apheriya. The Circle's list of major excavations dates the work to 2000–01.
Statement A, R.C. Agrawal: not named in ASI's account of the Ojiyana excavation.
Statement B, B.R. Meena: co-director of the excavation, so associated.
Statement C, Alok Tripathi: co-director of the excavation, so associated.
B and C are associated and A is not, which is option (4).
The idea to remember: Ojiyana, ASI Jaipur Circle, B.R. Meena and Alok Tripathi.
Why the others are wrong
- (1)Only A — This picks the one name ASI's account does not include. The Ojiyana team was directed by B.R. Meena and Alok Tripathi, and R.C. Agrawal is not listed among its directors or assistants.
The code also leaves out both of the actual directors.
- (2)Only C — Alok Tripathi is right, but he is only half the answer. ASI names B.R. Meena and Alok Tripathi together as directors of the Ojiyana excavation.
A code with C alone drops statement B, which is also associated.
- (3)A and B — B.R. Meena is right, but R.C. Agrawal does not appear in ASI's account of the excavation.
The co-director alongside Meena was Alok Tripathi, statement C, so the code should pair B with C.
Concept
Ojiyana is a Chalcolithic site of the Ahar culture, which used white-painted black-and-red ware. ASI's summary of the 2000–01 excavation places it on a hill slope about 30 km south-west of Beawar, in the hilly region of District Bhilwara.
The hill-slope setting makes it unusual: ASI notes that other Ahar culture sites flourished in river valleys.
The single-culture deposit, about 7.5 m thick, has three phases. Phase I houses were of sun-dried mud-brick, phase II used local stone, and phase III wattle-and-daub houses ended in a devastating fire.
RPSC's 2024 syllabus lists "Pre-historical sites of Rajasthan- from Palaeolithic to Chalcolithic and Bronze Age."
ASI reports a large number of terracotta bulls; the white-painted ones it terms "Ojiyana bulls" and suggests were cult objects. Other finds include cow figurines, a copper chopper, and Harappan-type faience that ASI reads as a link with contemporary cultures.
ASI brackets the habitation between the third millennium BC and the mid-second millennium BC, from comparison with other sites.
Key facts
- ASI's Jaipur Circle excavated Ojiyana under B.R. Meena and Alok Tripathi; its list of major excavations dates the work to 2000–01.
- Ojiyana lies on a hill slope about 30 km south-west of Beawar, unlike the river-valley setting of other Ahar culture sites.
- Its single-culture deposit, about 7.5 m thick, is divided into three phases on pottery and structural evidence.
- White-painted terracotta bulls from the site are termed "Ojiyana bulls" by ASI, which suggests they were cult objects.
- ASI dates the habitation from the third millennium BC to the mid-second millennium BC.
B and C are associated, so the code is option (4).
Study next
Common traps
- Stopping at one correct name: B.R. Meena and Alok Tripathi directed the excavation together, so a single-name code is incomplete.
- Carrying a well-known archaeologist's name across from another site: R.C. Agrawal is not in ASI's account of Ojiyana.
- Assuming a river-valley setting: ASI stresses that Ojiyana's hill-slope location sets it apart from other Ahar culture sites.
A question can name a site and ask who excavated it, which culture it belongs to, or what distinctive finds it yielded. A question can also list several archaeologists and ask which of them worked at one site.
A question can match Chalcolithic sites of Rajasthan to their finds.
Related PYQs
UnlockIAS will link similar questions from RAS Pre 2023 and 2018 here once those papers are published on this site.
Practice
- practice — not a real PYQ
Ojiyana, excavated by the Jaipur Circle of the Archaeological Survey of India, is a site of which culture?
- (a)Ahar culture
- (b)Harappan civilisation
- (c)Painted Grey Ware culture
- (d)Ganeshwar–Jodhpura culture
Answer(1) — ASI describes Ojiyana as a site of the Ahar culture, with white-painted black-and-red ware. Option (2) is not Ojiyana's culture, though Harappan-type faience was found there; options (3) and (4) are different cultures. - practice — not a real PYQ
Which of the following is a distinctive find reported from the excavation at Ojiyana?
- (a)White-painted terracotta bulls
- (b)Sixteen coins of King Menander
- (c)Iron objects of the Malava republic
- (d)A Mauryan circular stupa-shrine
Answer(1) — ASI calls them "Ojiyana bulls". Option (2) is Bairat, per RPSC's 2018 key; option (3) is Rairh, per RPSC's 2023 key; option (4) is Bijak-ki-Pahari at Bairath, per ASI.